A New Home
by Eu sou um fa
Summary: "This is nexus control, requesting assistance from anyone that are able to hear this…[Static]… some sort of energy cloud scrambled our systems…[Static]... could take place, food supplies are low, requesting…[Static]" 600 years after the Reaper war, the people of the Council received a distress signal, and now, the fates of the Andromeda people are in the hands of one man.
1. Codex

**A/U: Hello, whoever is reading this chapter, this is not my first try in fanfic, but is my first in english, english is my second language, and if you like this story and is willing to help with the grammar, please PM me. So, this is just the introduction, a codex if you will, it will be updated as the story goes on. If you see something wrong, just tell me in the , let's get to it.**

"_This is a galaxy—wide alert for all human territories. Fleet admiral Steven Hackett has declared Threat Condition Saber One. Enemy presence confirmed in Sol System. Earth under Reaper attack. I say again: Reaper attack is underway. [Static]… further instruction to follow on coded channel Crimson Tacit. May God save us all. [Static]"_

"_[Static]… under catastrophic Reaper attack! Primarch Fedorian is dead, Ground forces are trying to secure the next in succession! …[Static] … To all that are listening: We lost Palaven! Regroup on the [Static] System and wait for-EVERYBODY GET DOWN! [Reaper attack sound] _

The Reaper war was the worst conflict ever seen, after the war, the death toll was too much to bear. Few were the ones that liked the Batarians, but seeing an entire species go extinct was a blow to everybody. The process to rebuild was long and hard, with the real scale of the disaster slowly hitting everyone.

The Geth, reaching full intelligence, helped the Quarians settle in the homeworld. The integration between the two species was slow, there was a lot of animosity yet. With time, they started to understand each other, the Geth helped the Quarians with their immunological system, now as strong as any other race's. The two species now work together both in civilian life and in the military as equals. For their work in the war, they both were granted seats in the Council.

The Krogan case was a bit more complicated, their monstrous birth rate was a big problem, even the Krogan themselves knew it. With time, and a lot of negotiation, an agreement was met. The Salarians, now the Salarian Republic (after both Army and STG deserted, the union was destroyed by the Reapers), developed something similar to the Genophage: only 10 to 15 kids would be born, but no stillborn, only the healthy children. The Krogan now got hope for a better future. It took time, but Tuchanka was healed, and the proud Krogan people raised to their former glory as the protectors of the galaxy. They were also granted a seat in the Council.

The Rachni were a more delicate matter, there was a lot of fear involving then. It took much time, decades, for the fear to die down. But the Rachni showed that they could be trusted, helping advance medicine in unimaginable ways. They also gained a representant in the Council.

_Entry 9: _It became clear that some races having power over others would not work. Drell, Hanar, Volus, Elcor, all of then gained a say in the Council.

_Entry 8:_ After the war, it was decided that every race should have people with military training, the Asari were the biggest example: they started training the maidens, instead of letting then into bars, a 15-year military servitude was demanded. The same for every other race, of course considering the different life-spans, Salarians would make just 2 year of servitude, for example.

_Entry 10: _Shepard and Tali settled in Rannoch, they decided to adopt a Quarian boy, that took the name Kal'Zorah, and later a Human girl, that was named Hannah Shepard. Shepard and Tali lived there, in the very first place they landed on the war, for the rest of their lives, as their children moved on and created their own families. Both the names, Zorah and Shepard, were extremely known in the Milky Way, there was always a great pressure put in their descendants' backs, always looking up to Tali and John.

_Entry 11:_ The years passed, becoming decades, then becoming centuries. Technology advanced as it was decided to free themselves from the mass effect shackles. New forms of FTL were discovered, the HyperDrive was developed in a joined species effort, all ships were fitted with these drives. Other advancement was the immunity to indoctrination, this came from the peoples fear over the still living Leviathans, although they are not seen in a long time. The non-necessity for Element Zero drives made the size limits obsolete, making the construction of bigger ships possible.

_Entry 12: _Research involving AIs were now legal, the new AI are fully evolved AIs. After negotiation the AI rights were stablished. The gender and role on the society is of teh AI's choice and is up to the AI if it wants a body and if the body will have a more organic look like EDI's body, or more a robotic look like the Geth. The Geth decided that their bodies were their platforms, it was like this that they were created, and it was like this they will live. _Entry 13:_Deep Space satellites fitted with scans and sensors were built and sent to the corners of the galaxy and into Dark Space, no one wanted to take the chance, there is always a possibility that some Reaper survived. They were monitored by multispecies teams, always watching for outside threats.

Codex:

Frigates: 500 meters in Length. Deployed in squad of five to eight, designed for fast attack and heavy aerial support.

Destroyer: 550 meters. On layman's term, a big gun with engines strapped on the back. Armed with twin super MACs , these ships were nicknamed "sniper-ships". Usually staying on the back, close to the carriers.

Cruiser: 1400 meters. The bulk of every fleet together with their heavy cousins, also responsible for the ant-fighter/anti-bombers roles. Armed with both MACs, Torpedoes and Rows of Guardian Lasers.

Heavy Cruiser: 1900 Meters. Less numerous than the common Cruiser. Armed with MACs, Torpedoes and Heavy Ordnance Missile Pods.

Dreadnought: 2800 meters. The usual heavy armor of the fleet. Armed with Dual-SMACs running the full length of the ship, Heavy missile Silos, Guardian Lasers, Torpedoes and a small wing of escort-fighters. (A wing has 10 to 14 aircrafts)

Super-Dreadnought: 3700 meters. The most armed and armored ships in all fleets, but also the most expensive. Having the best shields, best armor and best weaponry, it is rare, existing only five: the Asari "ASC Reverence", the Turian "THS Spirit of Fire", The Krogan "KWV Might of Kalros", the Quarian/Geth ship "RSC Fury of Creation" and the Human "SSV Passchendaele". Armed with Twin-SMACs, Heavy Missile Silos, Torpedoes, Guardian Lasers, two wings of Escort-Fighter and the newest Ion-Cannon, a weapon so powerful that is used very carefully, a single shot can pierce a Dreadnaught for one side to another.

Carriers: 4300 meters. Big, slow, unarmed but heavily armored and shielded, the carriers are responsible for transporting and deploying vehicles and personal on the battlefield. Armed with four rows of Guardian Lasers along its hull, thirteen Wings of Fighters, eleven Wings of Bombers, five wings of Attacker Aircraft and 200 unmanned drones serving as additional Guardian Lasers and in the case of close proximity combat (Although the idea of the carrier is to be far away from the fight).

Fighter/Escort-Fighter: 21 meters. Small, fast and armed with dual fast firing machine guns and 14 air-to-air missiles, the fighter role is simples, clear the enemies of the sky, usually deployed in squads of 10 to 14.

Bomber: 50 meters. Heavy, but fast, the bombers are design to carry heavy ordnance, deploy it and go back to the carrier to rearm. Armed a Heavy Plasma Cannon and it can carry up to 63 400 kg of explosives. Used mainly to engage other big ships and to destroy large targets on the ground.

Attack Aircraft: 23 meters. The design and manufacturing are done by humans. Resembling the old A-10 Warthog, it uses a rotatory cannon that fires a mix of High Explosive Rounds and Incendiary Armor Piercing Rounds at 3,800 RPM and HEAT Air-to-Ground Guided Missiles. Used mainly as close air support for terrestrial troops.

Drones: 10 meters. Small and fast machines, armed with a more powerful version of the Guardian laser, only one direct to the front.

The armored vehicle doctrines also changed, now with the Main Battle Tanks, Infantry Fighting Vehicle, Anti-Airs and so on.

MBT: Heavily armored and shielded, this tracked monster roll over everything on the battlefield, armed with a heavy MAC, that fires APFSDS* Shells and HE* Shells, also with top-mounted and coaxial-mounted machine guns.

**_*Armor Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot *High Explosive _**

IFV: Light, fast, can be both with wheels or be a hover, armed with Fast Firing Heavy Machineguns and ATGMs*, can also transport troops.

**_*Anti-Tank Guided Missile_ **

AA: The name explains itself, armed with Dual Fast Firing Medium Machineguns and Ground-to-Air missiles.

HyperDrive: This drive has the ability of opening a portal that engulfs the ship and shots it in a "dimension" that resembles a spinning tunnel, making the travels far faster. The portal usually is not visible, making it look like the ship just shot forward, but an interesting thing is that when a large fleet activates their Drives at once, a big Rift opens, and all ships travel together in formation trough the "tunnel".

Society

**Quarian Culture and Society:** With the time in the Migrant Fleet, the enviro-suits became part of the culture and is still used today, but not in the same way as before. The suits that they use are not actually enviro-suits, it doesn't have the same limitations, it just resembles the enviro-suits. The quarians use enviro-suits mostly in the military, with armor on top of it and in the navy. The hoods are other important part, a Quarian always were a hood, only putting it down in the presence of friends and family. The Geth and the Quarians lived in peace now, both species in a single democracy, with two representatives, one Geth and one Quarian.


	2. Chapter 1

**AU: Here is where it really begins. Hope you like it.**

* * *

**Border of galaxy space March 14, 2818**

Monitoring the scans was a boring job, sitting there in a chair watching the readings with nothing else to do. Tobias Droves was just a guy doing his work, if doing his work involves snoring loudly in his post.

"Seriously!? Sleeping on the job again?"

Came the annoyed question of Valeria Jones, the captain of the station. Tobias Almost fell from the chair, startled by the sudden shout. Looking around he notice that his other colleges are all with their attention directed to the screen on their terminals

"C'mon ma'am, there is nothing there, the most interesting thing to look out there is the Andromeda galaxy, and it is thousands of lightyears away. And besides, is my break now."

"your break ended 10 minutes ago. So, compose yourself, we are the first line to ensure the safety of the galaxy from any Reaper remnants!"

"The Reaper where _destroyed_ over 600 years ago, if something was out there, it would have attacked already and even if the Reapers are still lurking, I doubt they would have the number to take us down."

And like it was just waiting for the perfect moment, the screen of the terminal started flashing red, the words "_Unknown Signal Detected" _appeared on the screen.

"Report!" came the demand from Valeria.

"Unknow signal detect by satellite AST-7274, is an audio file ma'am." His face turned in to a confused frown. "It is encrypted, but this kind of encryption is not used in more than 600 years"

"Can you play it?"

"On speakers…now!"

An apparent human voice could be listened in what appear to be a pre-recorded message.

"_This is nexus control, requesting assistance from anyone that are able to hear this…[Static]… some sort of energy cloud scrambled our systems…[Static]… no sign of the arks. [Static]… are a bust, no…[static] could take place, food supplies are low, requesting…[Static] _

The whole room stood in silence, no one spelled a word. The silence was broken by the captain.

"Where this message come from?" She asked one of the technicians.

"It looks like the transmission came from the direction of the Andromeda galaxy."

"Comms, set me a link to the Council, tell then it's an emergency!" Valeria ordered.

* * *

**Council Private Chamber March 14, 2818**

"This is all I have to report now, ma'am." Valeria's holographic form said, ending the report on the strange message they intercepted.

"Thank you for your report, captain." Replied the Krogan councilor, Urdnot Mordin, a slightly big female, the talent for politics was as common on female Krogan, as fighting was for the males. "The council will discuss this matter. You are dismissed" The captain saluted and ended the transmission.

"Well," came the lightly synthesized voice of the Geth councilor "this puts us in a though spot."

"We could ignore the S.O.S knowing that we let thousands of people die, or we could send help, but those who go wouldn't be able to come back." Agreed the Quarian councilor.

"I think we should debate more about this, let's take a break and clear our minds and continue this afterwards." The Asari councilor suggested.

With nods of agreement, the councilors leaved the chamber one by one until only the Human and Geth councilors remained in the room, both watching the city below in the wards of the Citadel. Until the Human councilor, Eliza Mei broke the silence.

"We need to help those people, it's our duty to do so!"

"I agree." Came the reply of the Geth councilor "But I fear what the people we send may encounter there if they go. I must remind you that the Reaper invasion was underway when the Keelah si'yah departed, I fear that a Reaper found a way to Andromeda. But let us leave this discussion for later."

The Human councilor agreed, even without the words spoken by the councilor leaving her head. They both leaved the room.

* * *

**SSV Normandy, Somewhere in the Terminus System on route to Citadel Space March 16, 2818**

The Normandy Itself was one of a kind, very similar to its predecessor in design but sporting 550 meter of length, small state of the art ion projectors as its main weapon, with cloaking capabilities, all just out of the prototype phase. The ship was captained by Jonathan Shepard. He was now standing in the observational deck, watching the effects of the Hyperspace though the window.

To really explain who Shepard is: He is a Spartan. The Spartan Program was invented by Hannah Shepard, Daughter of Tali and John, to be the next step in the human special forces. Only N7s could apply for the program, but the success rate was of roughly 5%. If succeeded, the person would receive the augmentation and training that came with the tittle.

John was a tall man (because of the Spartan Augmentations), Caucasian, 215 centimiters tall, black short hair and dark eyes. Now he was out of his armor, a small scar in his left cheek and a bandaged arm as reminders of his last engagement with the Pirate Remnants of the Terminus. The scar on his cheek was from when an Asari attacked him with a knife and the arm was when a Vorcha tried to burn him alive with a flamethrower, he used his arm as a shield and part of the under armor ended up melting in his skin, having to be surgically removed in the ship, hence the bandaged arm. The ship was now halfway to the Citadel, he was summoned by the Council, though they did not specify why he was needed in person.

"You look distracted today." came a voice from behind him. John turned around to the person, a Quarian woman, she was a head shorter then he was, with a purple-greyish skin, her hair, a dark-black-blue color, was tied in a very sturdy bun (typical from military), she had the typical Quarian markings in her neck and forehead, her eyes where a light blue and, like all Quarians, emanate a soft glow. She was wearing what resembled the old enviro-suits **(*See** **"Quarian Culture and Society" in the Codex)** with the hood down. Her name was Rayla'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rannoch. She was the XO of the ship and part of the ground team.

"I'm just thinking. It's not like the Council to just call us like this, I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong." He turned back to the window.

She walked to his side, resting her head in his shoulder, taking his left hand with her right.

"It's probably one of those 'High Classified Assignments' they like so much." she said mocking, but with a reassuring, tone.

"No rest for the wicked." He said in a playful tone, getting a snort out of her "Let's go, Rayla, I think we are almost at the Citadel" He turned around and started walking to the door, with her by his side. Outside, on the crew deck, some of the crew where resting, some where preparing for their shift. The ship was manned by various species, as this was a joint species crew. Turians and Humans could be seen chatting, a Quarian was speaking about processors and videogames with his Geth friend. Some people saluted Shepard and Rayla as they move to the elevator.

Reaching the CIC floor, they exit the elevator and walk in the direction of the cockpit. Seating on the pilot chair was Julio, a Synthetic-Human (or just Synth, for short), he was one of the AIs that decided to have a more human form, he was 5'9, bald with his face resembling a 30 years old man with blue glowing eyes, wearing a standard Alliance uniform, with a black cap.

Noticing the two people behind him, he let go of the commands and turns the chair backwards.

"Captain! What do Your Highness needs?" He said in a Joking manner, taking a chuckle out of Rayla.

"Julio, that was never funny."

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, a little bit funny, in the first 6 times" he said, annoyed. This was a normal talk to then, these two met in the academy way back then, they are friends ever since. "But that aside, how much until we get in the Citadel?"

"Just a couple more minutes. When we arrive, I going to the hit the bar."

There was silence for a couple of seconds, until Rayla spoke.

"I Don't know Jonny, sometimes you do behave like royalty, Your Majesty." The was enough for Julio to burst in laughing, soon accompanied by Rayla. All this with Shepard eyeing then with an incredulous look.

"Go to hell you two." He said, only boosting the laughs. He soon gave up and laughed with the two. The Citadel coming into view mere seconds afterwards.


	3. Chapter 2

**AU: I just fixed the Codex, something happened with the format, ah well, nothing is perfect. I also forgot to mention, this story is heavily inspired by "****Finding Home****", from **spart1339. **To the chapter:**

**Citadel, Council Chamber**

**March 16, 2818**

"I do understand the implications of this messages, but why me specifically me?"

Jonathan was now in reunion with the councilors.

"Because we believe that you are the best option that we have." Said the Human councilor "And you have already proven yourself in the Terminus War.*"

"With all due respect councilors, what you are asking me is not a simple mission, if I go, there is no turning back. And who would be the people that could go with me?"

"We are already preparing a fleet to go." The Turian councilor answered. "However, we do understand that you need time to think about this, Spartan."

"Go home and think about what was said to you here. In two days, we want to hear your answer." Spoke the Krogan Councilor.

"I will, if you excuse me." He said, giving up.

"You are dismissed."

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**March 16, 2818**

Jonathan was walking aimlessly through the Zakera Ward, thinking about what the councilors said and what they asked him to do. Rayla was out of reach, something about a new shotgun she wanted to buy. A beep awoke him, and he looked at his omni-tool, seeing a message from Wrex:

"_Kid, Mordin told me, meet me at the gun shop, Rayla is already here, let's talk."_

He then set of to said gun shop, he walked for a couple of minutes until he reached a building with the sign: Colossus Arms Dealership, Guns and Booze.

The Colossus Arms Dealership was not only a gun shop, but a small bar, only really frequented by Wrex and the people he knew. The "Colossus" in the name was Tali's idea, since the owner, Urdnot Margriev, was one behemoth of a Krogan. Margriev is an old friend of Wrex, and a friend with almost all the Shepard's and Zorah's out there, the ones that frequented his bar of course.

He entered the bar, was a cozy, familiar place, he felt like a heavy weight was just lifted from his shoulders. He looked at the bar counter, where he saw Wrex, Rayla and Julio, but to his surprise, Liara was there too.

"Hey, people."

"Hey kid!" Wrex greeted. "Mordin told me what they want you to do."

"That's that. Hey Margriev, give me a soda, I'm not much for drinks today." He asked, turning his attention to the big Krogan behind the counter. He sat down at Rayla's side, between her and Liara.

"On the way."

"I personally think you should go." Liara spoke her mind.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, in certain ways, you would be the best for the job, and I think…"

"What she is trying to say, kid, is that you are a wasted potential." He then looked to Rayla. "You too for that matter." Wrex interrupted Liara,

"Yes." Liara confirmed, used with Wrex's bluntness. "Not exactly my words, but yes."

"Well, Shepard, whatever you decide, I'm coming with." Julio spoke his mind. "Is not like a have a family or anything."

This was completely unexpected, they were basically telling him to go. But it was a really big decision, one with no return. He came back when felt a hand on his. He looked a Rayla.

"If you go, I'm going with." She said matter of fact.

"Me and grunt are going too." Wrex said.

"Say what now!?"

"And I'm going too!" Liara spoke

"Wait hold up. Why?"

"Well, I already spoke to Grunt, and he want in, he is even packing he's stuff, and I'm bored, want to go out, shoot some new shit."

"And you will need my… help, in andromeda, Falare can take care of thinks when I go, I trained her for it." Liara spoke, Falare was her first born, and she always wanted to be the Shadow Broker.

"Look, they are talking about give me command of an entire fleet, I'm used to one ship."

"No need to worry", Liara said. "The fleet will be separated, and each one will have an admiral, you will just have to give the general direction of thing." He was going to ask how she knew this, but he remembered WHO she is.

"I…I need to go home, sleep a little, tomorrow they will have my answer." All of then agreed, Jonathan and Rayla bid everyone farewell, walking out of the bar.

**Jonathan and Rayla's apartment – 5 minutes later**

"You know I will go with you right?" Rayla asked. Jonathan hugged her.

"I know."

They both went to bed to sleep, both tired just for thinking of the possibilities of their future.

On the next day, Shepard woke early, he walked to the kitchen, drank a glass of water. He activated his omini-tool, calling the councilors secretary.

"Here is Jonathan Shepard, tell the Councilors, I'm in."


	4. Chapter 3

**A month later – Colossus Arms Dealership **

"A whole new galaxy, Baby! Hell Yeah"

They were in the roof of the Colossus, it was an exclusive area for then, with a beautiful sight of Earth. The Citadel ended up in orbit of the human homeworld during the Reaper war, they tried to move the station, but it was not possible. Well, one thing is for sure, Earth was well guarded with the Citadel fleet.

The guy who shouted was Raven, an Advanced War Robot. He actually was programmed by hand by his mother, a human, to be a common person, but he fell in love with the military, and altered his own program, uploading himself in a new body, and doing his own custom job on the thing, the guy has a minigun in his right arm, for Christ sake.

He was the Heavy Weapons Specialist of the team. His appearance was a humanoid robot, with black painting, the lights were a deep blue (**For better reference, search for "Reaper black ops 3" in google)**, he was using dark combat boots, dark combat pants and a black hoodie**. **Raven was hand picked by Shepard to work in the Normandy.

Jonathan and Rayla decided to gather the ground team, to tell them the news, and ask for their opinion, they seemed excited even.

"This is an experience of a lifetime, they offered me a place in the arks, way back then, but I was too young and refused, I regretted that decision for years."

Dr. Elora D'Ysena was a xeno-archaeologist, with a specialization in the inusannon, and a renowned geographer, that in the Reaper War discovered to be a talented commando, serving in their ranks for 300 years after the War before quitting. She worked as a researcher in the Citadel Science School until she met the crew of the Normandy, when they needed their help decoding a transmission of a possible terrorist cell, she ended up in the mission with then, and never left after that. She is almost in her Matriarch years. She was a beautiful woman, deep blue skin with no marking, her head crest was in a darker shade of blue, however.

"Yeah, why the hell not? And besides, I'm old, I need new things to do."

John "Blackbeard" Marchal was a 56-year-old soldier, a friend of Jonathan's father and the best sniper he knew. Was assigned to the Normandy as Jonathan's request, since he was the last "family" he knew, after his parents died in the Saken incident*. Blackbeard, the nickname he got from his full black thick beard, was a tall man, not as tall as Jonathan, of course. He looked well for a man his age. He took a sip of his bear.

"We will have fun!"

"We will_ save people_, Varn." Elora replied

"_And _have some _fun_ while doing it."

Holding an enormous bottle of ryncol was Gulnaz Varn, a big, green and black colored Krogan skirmisher. There is nothing much to talk about him, some think he is the lost son of Ganar Wrang, others think he is a Krogan spy, but no one in the ship really cares. The weapon he uses is a shotgun, but he prefers to engage enemies in melee combat with the giant of a sword he sports in his back, a human would need two hands to wield it, he did with only one. He came to the Normandy as a suggestion of Wrex, Shepard accepted him.

"I'm for the surprise! Imagine the looks on their faces when they see me."

Prophet, the Geth. He chose a Soldier unit as his body, his flashlight "eye" opening and closing while he spoke. He was part of the Joint Operation and became part of the team, but he has known Rayla since she was a baby. Different from Revan, he was "naked", his armor is dark grey with red swiveling markings, the Zorah Clan markings.

"Is not like have a choice, you all would be lost without me."

Eva, the ships AI, said, in a hologram on the table. She has the appearance of a 25 years old woman, with short hair, in dress-blues.

"We are family, we are all going, and that's final."

Gabriela Santos, she looked like a scottish woman, long redhead, freckles, the likes. But she was a 23 years old Brazilian woman, born and raised on the south of the country. She was the explosives and anti-armor specialist of the team.

"And you will need me to keep your insides _inside _on the field."

Agatha Jäger, field medic and an extremely powerful biotic, 31 years of age. She was blond, her hair in a ponytail, blue eyes. She was part of the KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte, German Special Forces, before she came to the Normandy. She was part of the original crew before the ship was captained by Shepard.

Jonathan than look to the last person in there, a scarred Turian by the name of Titus Vakarian, stealth and CQC specialist, Shepard don't even remember when they met, the guy was in his life since he remembered.

And all this people were family to him. Shepard was the squad leader. And Rayla was his Quarian engineering specialist, dual-wielding SMG's, second in command.

Titus noticed the staring.

"What?" he said, sipping his Dextro liquor. "Is not like I'm going to sit this one out."

"You guys are the best." Rayla said.

"What she said."

"Well, guys, we have a galaxy waiting for us, so buy whatever the fuck you want, weapons, upgrades, armor, you name it. All in the council's account." Shepard declared.

"By the way, I was meaning to ask you this. How was the reunion with the council?" Blackbeard asked.

"Well," Jonathan begun. "I asked them how we would be able to reach in time, not even the hyperspace engines are fast enough for us to reach Andromeda in less than 350 years, so they told me about a Relay…"

**Two days early – Citadel Tower – Private reunion room – 9AM**

"The Alpha-7 Relay."

The councilors where sited in the semi-circled table, with Shepard in the straight side of the table, in front of them.

"I'm sorry councilor, the Alpha-7 Relay? I've never heard of it." Jonathan spoke, silently asking the Salarian councilor to explain, but Oracle, the Geth councilor spoke first.

"It's not a surprise that you don't, is a top-secret project after all. As you know, we only use the Relays these days to conserve fuel, we don't need then, as the hyperdrive is faster. So, Doctor Engineer Tela'Koris came to us with the idea to use a hybrid of the two technologies, a Relay that would use the Hyperdrive and eezo technologies to propel ships at many times faster than the hyperdrive could. The project was accepted, and a Relay was modified and tested. The Relay worked, safely sending a ship with full crew to one side of the galaxy to another in 25 seconds. But the Relay was damaged beyond repair. Other tests where made, trying to fix the problem, but each and every time, the Relay was broken. The project was scraped, and the files archived." The Geth explained.

"We made a call to the doctor, and she said that we can use three Relays combined to send a fleet of 1500 ships to Andromeda, and if her calculations are right, the voyage will only take 3 months." The Quarian councilor finished.

"Alright. What exactly do you want me to do when I reach Andromeda?"

"The main mission is to understand what is happening there and helping the people as you see fit." The Asari councilor answered. "When you reach there, you will be in your own, find the Pathfinders, link with the Nexus and work together from there. My mother worked, illegally, with Alec Ryder in the development of the SAM AI, you will be able to track the implants."

"And please, remember, you will be a big military force, is very obvious that the Initiative made contact with hostiles, but there is the possibility of peaceful contact as well, it will be your duty to help these people too." Spoke the Turian councilor, a military veteran turned politician.

"Understood. Now, how the fleet will work?"

"They will be divided by species, there will be a Turian, Asari, Salarian, Geth/Quarian, Human, Krogan and Rachni, each with an Admiral. Also two live ships, with scientists, researchers, the families of the ones will go and will house the greenhouses for the cultivation of food, the plan is to dismantle these ships to build the colonies." Drell councilor said.

"You will also be given a Super-Dreadnought." The Turian said, this surprised the Spartan.

"Excuse me?"

"The ship was supposed to be the new flagship of the Council fleet, but you will need it more than we do. While I'm sure that your flagship will be the Normandy, the 'Blight of the Maleficent' will be the big gun in the field."

"Thank you, councilors,"

"The departure will be in three months, you have time to prepare, and bid farewell for those that will stay." Urdnot Mordin said.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. "Anything else?"

"No. Goodbye, and good luck, Grand Admiral Jonathan Shepard."

**Back to present**

He finished his story, taking a long swing of his beer.

"Damn kid." Blackbeard started. "I don't need to call you Grand Admiral, right?"

"It's just a formality, just use it in official reunions and the likes."

"Well," Raven began, taking a cup of water (is not like he is drinking from it) "A toast for us and for the adventures we will take and the badys we will kill. To Andromeda!"

"To Andromeda!" they all said together.

**Till the nest chapter people, to andromeda!**

**Extra: **They all drank their drinks, except Raven who can't drink, and Prophet, who threw the water on his on face.

"Did you really…?"

"Really what?"

"Kill me." Blackbeard


	5. Chapter 4

**There it goes another one, please, call my mistakes in grammar and tell me what you like, what you dislike, I'm up for suggestions as well. That said, to the chapter.**

* * *

**September 26, 2818 – Sol system, Relief Fleet**

Jonathan was in the bridge of the Normandy, with Rayla and the holograms of the 6 admirals of the Relief fleet and the Rachni queen that will go with them. The Rachni, as a species best known by their genetic abilities, constructed a body for the queen so she could interact more easily with others, and since the Human/Quarian/Asari appearance was more common, the body was constructed to look like them. Is worth noting that the body isn't her, she's still in the main Rachni dreadnought, she only assumes command of the body. She was nickname by the humans as Kerrigan, for the striking resemblance with the Queen of Blades, a character from a very old Human game. The admirals of the fleets where: Admiral Caelana Tanimius of the Turians; Admiral Mirlyme V'laius, of the Asari; Admiral Hodon Jess of the Salarians; Admiral Samantha Anderson of the Humans; Admiral Jator'Reegar of the Quarian/Geth; and Admiral Urdnot Gruand of the Krogan.

Shepard knew the responsibility left in his shoulders, the lives of thousands of people were in his hands, and he would make damn sure to value each one of them.

"_God, I hate giving speeches."_

"It's time. The time when we leave for a whole new galaxy, leaving our old homes behind. I would be lying if I say I'm not nervous. But I have this remarkable people here with me, willing to go headfirst into the unknown, for people they never met. Whatever is on the other side, I know that we can surpass it together. All of us, the brave, the inquisitive, the warrior, the trailblazers of the milky way, we stand on the shoulders of those that came before, challenging ourselves to go further. I don't know what we will find there, or even if the initiative is still alive, but we have no choice but to try. We will say goodbye to this galaxy, to our loved ones that will stay here and wherever we go, we know that they will be with us. Stand strong, stand fast, stand together. Shepard out."

The communication was cut, and he let go the breath he didn't know he was holding. Rayla on his side took his hand and squeezed it. He turned to the Admirals' holograms.

"Good luck and prepare yourselves, you are dismissed." They all saluted and cut the transmission.

"So, this is it?" Rayla spoke.

"Yes, it is." He answered. "Let's go to the pods, we have a long voyage ahead of us."

* * *

**Same time, Citadel**

The three modified Relays sat there, one on each side of the fleet and one in the back. The Relays started spinning, the hyperdrive core linking with the eezo core, the ships began to glow brightly. In a blink of an eye, the ships are gone. The damaged Relays now drifting silently in the empty space. The whole galaxy watched as 1500 ships began their voyage to the unknown. To Andromeda.

* * *

**Andromeda, Heleus Cluster, Angaran planet of Voeld, Tempest Medbay**

Scott Ryder was both pissed and happy. They manage to get some of the Efvra's trust, but at the cost of a bullet in the gut. Lexi already examined him and made the appropriate dressings, he would be good on the end of the day, but it sucks anyway.

The whole thing was a dud, the Golden worlds where not so Golden, some even inhabitable, like habitat seven, where he and his father almost got killed. Alec is now in coma, but thinking he would die, passed the Pathfinder duty to Scott, a job that should be Cora's. Now Scott was in the Tempest medbay, waiting for his leg to heal, so they could save Moshae Sjefa, a cultural and religious leader of the Angara. She knows about the vaults and may be their only hope to survive in this accursed Galaxy. The door of the medbay opened, and Cora entered.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better." He told her. "It's not the first time I get shoot, just some more time and we can go save the Moshae."

"You were reckless there, that could be avoided."

"Ah, don't worry." He said dismissively. "It's just a scar, besides, woman like scars. Don't you?"

She looked at him with a sly smile.

"You know, someday, being a smartass will get you in trouble."

"Nah, I have a good woman watching my back."

They both smiled at each other. When he was named Pathfinder, Scott thought that Cora would be angry, but she appears to be taking it fine, making jokes with him and all. They were interrupted when Jaal entered.

"Ryder, I wanted to ask you…" he then notice the two. "Am I … hemn … interrupting… something?"

"No, no off course not, I was just leaving." Cora said. "And get yourself of this bed already." She said to Ryder, while leaving the medbay. Scott turned to Jaal.

"Hey Jaal, what you need."

"I wanted to ask you to be part of the team that will recue the Moshae."

"You didn't even need to ask, I know how important she is to you. You are already on the team."

"Thank you, Ryder, I won't forget this."

Lexi entered the medbay soon after, she made one last test and, seeing that was all in place, liberated Scott.

Scott and Jaal walked together to the cargo bay, Ryder looked up, to a point in the selling, saying:

"SAM, call Drack, Cora and Vetra to the cargo bay, they are going in the next mission."

"_Of course, Scott_."

It took less than five minutes for then to arrive, already equipped. Ryder chose to go with the Mattock and the Sidewinder, he preferred the damage of the semi-autos. The five of then exited the Tempest, following the lights until they reached a cave, in the side of a mountain. The Angaran Resistance uses this place as a base of operation on the planet. The group walked to three Angara that were next to a shuttle. Scoot talked with the front one.

"You will be our pilot?"

"Yes, the others are already inside, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let's go."

They all entered the shuttle. The flight control gave then the all clear and they set off to the other side of the planet.

Inside the shuttle, the Angara were anxious.

"No one ever entered one of those bases and came back alive." A woman said.

"I Like to think they are still alive, that the Kett shipped them somewhere." a man said.

"For what? Slavery?" Jaal asked, disgusted.

"Yes, I suppose." The man responded hesitantly.

"Death is better." Jaal spoke.

Scott has his own thoughts about this but decided to stay quiet. Cora decided to ask about the mission. The female technician dispose herself to answered.

"We will deploy next to one of the shield nodes, then use my program, with the help of your SAM, to make a hole in the barrier and infiltrate the facility."

"Remember people, rescuing the Moshae is the main objective, we will try to save others if we can, but they are not our mission." The Angara leader said.

No one spoke anything more for the rest of the travel. They reached the drop zone and got of the shuttle. The pilot said he could not stay there and took off to the other side of the mountain.

The program worked, the group infiltrated the base, killing some Kett in the entrance. They then separated, the Angaran team responsible for making a distraction, while the Pathfinder team searched for the Moshae.

They walked the corridor until they found the door indicated on the map, they opened it, entering some sort of control room.

"Contact." Ryder said opening fire on a Chosen, firing two shoots, killing it, before taking cover in a round table of sorts. Drack tackled the Destined, blasting its face with a shotgun. Cora used a charge in two Chosen, sending them flying right in Ryder sights, he fired four shots, ending the Kett.

"Clear." Cora called

"Clear"

"Clear"

"Clear"

In the front of them was a window with sight to a courtyard, where The Cardinal seemed to be doing some sort of ritual.

"What is this?" Jaal was shocked.

"Look at the Angara." Vetra called. "They look the be in some sort of trance."

They looked at the Angara, while they entered the pods, without fighting or resisting.

"Ryder, we have to help them!"

"Jaal, I know what you are feeling, but the Moshae is the priority."

Jaal didn't seem to like it but didn't say anything. They watched as the distraction team entered the courtyard, firing on the Kett. Deciding that staying here was useless, the team took the door on the right, walking through a corridor as the base alarms started blaring. They kept walking until SAM called them.

"_Pathfinder, I tapped into the kett communications, there appears to be several firefights in this base."_

"What do you mean by this, SAM?"

"_There is someone else fighting the Kett."_

"Are they hostile?"

"_Unknown."_

"Alright. Drack, take point. Cora with me. Jaal and Vetra, you cover the rear. If we come in contact with the unknowns, you only fire if fired upon. Understood?"

"Understood." All minus Drack confirmed.

"Drack."

"Understood." He mumbled.

The continued through a door, turning the corner they met Kett in a two-level corridor. Drack blasted the first Chosen, as Vetra and Jaal opened fire in the Kett. Scott spotted an Anointed spooling up his weapon, ready to shoot the Turian, he jumped, conjuring a mass of biotics in his hand, slamming it on top of the heavy gunner, killing him instantly. He used his advantage point, shooting the Kett below. After not a long time, the corridor was clear.

"Here." Vetra called, "There is a vent here."

They gave space o that Drack could break the vent with his hammer. They walked through the dark until they found a way back to the other side of the vent. Walking past a door they entered a chamber, that locked the moment they set foot in it.

"I don't like this. SAM!?" Ryder called.

"_This appear to be only a decontamination chamber, nothing that can hurt you."_

"Germophobes!?" Drack said.

It was then that a window, right in front of then, became see-through, and they watched as some sort of ritual began. A Kett took two syringes an began to float up until he was face to face with an Angara who got levitated out of a stasis pod. The Kett then injected some sort of serum on the chest of the Angara. The man began mutating, bones taking place of skin, the head changing its format, the man became a Kett Chosen.

The team watched in shock, unable to do anything. When the door opened, they took cover in the room and began to fire at the Kett.

"No, wait!" Jaal shouted. "Keep the angaran alive."

"I'm sorry, Jaal." Cora spoke. "But he is shooting at us!"

"Argh, monsters, VILLAINS! Time to die!" Jaal shouted in a voice of hatred.

The five of then made quick work of the Kett, cleaning the room within minutes. Jaal kneeled beside the turned Angara, sobbing.

"I've seen some serious crap, but this is straight-up evil." Scott said.

"Let's recue the Moshae and get the hell out of this place." Cora argued.

Scott saw Jaal, he didn't know what to say or what to do, but he knew he needed to do something. He put his hand in Jaal's shoulder.

"Jaal…"

"They are us." He looked lost, almost broken, even.

"We Have to go." Drack said quietly to Ryder. "That could be happening with the Moshae as we speak."

"We have to get to her, fast." Scott agreed.

"_If you plug me, I can invade the Kett systems, searching her will be faster." _SAM spoke

"Do it."

Scott turned his attention to Jaal, kneeling beside him.

"They are us." Ryder didn't know what to say. "How many have I Killed, not knowing." He turned to Scott, and the Pathfinder could see the pain in his eyes. "Ryder, I didn't know."

"I'm sorry, Jaal. How can I help? What do you need?"

"I… don't know." Jaal took a deep breath. "But that is kind, thank you."

"_Scott, I've found her." _SAM spoke in the team comms. That got their attention.

"Where?"

"_Right after that decontamination chamber." _SAM set a nav-point in said chamber.

They quickly moved inside, when they saw The Cardinal moving the Moshae away.

"SAM, open this chamber now!"

"_Stand by. Opening."_

They didn't even stop to take cover, shooting past the Kett, into the elevator next to the one The Cardinal took.

"_Pathfinder, I've identified who is fighting the Kett."_

"Who is it?" All of the team started paying attention.

"_There appears to be a human, leading a team with a Quarian, a Krogan, a Human and two others. The others are odd, they appear to be mechs of some sort. They are converging on the same position this elevator is going."_

"Maybe the Quarian is from the Keelah Si'yah."

"There is only one way to find out."

They exited the elevator, a battle already taking place, they saw a 2 meter tall human in black armor using what appeared to be an automatic DMR, while the dual-wielding Quarian female and a Geth look alike focused fire in the Cardinal, with SGMs and Assault Rifle, respectively. The Quarian crouched back to cover, reloading the SGMs, spotting then.

"You guys took long enough. Some help would be much appreciated!" The Quarian woman said, popping out of cover, laying fire on the Cardinal.

"Shoot the orb." Drack said. "It will drop her shield."

"Only if we knew that sooner." She said, now focusing on the orb.

Scott took cover beside the big man. He needed to ask.

"Who are you people?"

"My name is Jonathan Shepard, I'm the squad leader, as for who we are, let's leave that for when this fight is done." Scott didn't say anything, only nodding to the now named Shepard.

"Jäger, Raven, where are you?" He asked trough the comms, he nodded when got a response. He then remembered that the Pathfinder team was not hearing it, he raised his arm, activating the omni-tool. "Tune your coms to this frequency." He said, sending the frequency to Ryder.

"We are here boss." Scott heard a German accent through the comms. He looked up, as two figures dropped from the floor above then. One was a black armored robot, 'dressed' in armored boots and pants, with armor over its chest, looking more like storage spaces, armed with a DMR. The other was a 30-year-odd blonde woman. She was wearing a Medium Armor, with a Green, Brown, Black camouflage pattern, in one of her shoulder pads was a emblem, a sword on top of the German flag, surrounded by oak leaves, the other shoulder pad was white, with a red cross painted in it, she was using an Assault Rifle.

"Good. On my signal, I need you to throw a Singularity right in the middle of them. Raven, you lay waste on them."

"Roger." They said in unison.

Shepard waited a few more seconds, then he yelled.

"NOW."

The German flung a Singularity in the Kett ranks, pulling even the ones that were far from the center into the event. The black robot raised, dropping his weapon, morphing his right hand and arm into to a minigun, spiting 3000 rounds per minute in the floating mob of enemies, he kept firing for almost 40 seconds, when he ended, there it was only the Cardinal left. The smoking gun morphed again into his arm, picking up the dropped rifle. Scott, like the rest of the team, was shocked with the sheer fire power of that gun.

Ryder would've said something, but the voice of the commander came first.

"Everyone, focus fire on the Cardinal, bring it down."

It didn't take long to defeat the Cardinal with ten guns firing at it. When the all clear was called, they moved to the fallen Moshae. Scott Kneeled beside her.

"Moshae Sjefa, we came to rescue you."

"Nobody ever returned from behind Kett walls." She said, still weak.

"We are new here, don't know the rules yet."

"Quickly, let's get here out of here, then come back and rescue everybody." Jaal said.

"No." The Moshae said alarmed. "We can't let this place standing, we must destroy it."

"Moshae, please, it is our people here, our fighters, our scientists. We can come to destroy this place later."

The Cardinal got up, disoriented, she looked at them.

"NO!" she charged in their direction. "You will not take it. It is meant for the Archon himself."

She stopped when both the weapons of Cora and Raven where pointed to her head.

"She is coming with us." Ryder said, walking away with Jaal helping him support the Moshae.

"Wait. I want to know why the archon…" Her weakness took the better of her, she was not able to finish the sentence.

"Arrogant simpletons. This is a gift! Who are you to deny it!?"

"You turn them into monsters to fight their own people." Jonathan said disgusted, that hit too close to home.

"These Chosen join with us to become great beyond your ability to understand." The cardinal began with zealot intensity. "Like them, I was once wretched, and the exalted DNA of our great Archon entwines with mine. I stand on the shoulders of his great…..gahgh."

The Cardinal was not able finish, when a sword pierced her abdomen. The sword was pulled upwards, exiting in her right shoulder. She fell to the ground, dead.

"She talked to much." Varn said, sheeting the sword on his back. Again, the Pathfinder team was shocked, mainly because they did no saw the big Krogan arrive. Shepard's team were not fazed by it. He turned to the Quarian girl.

"Rayla, could you please…" He said mentioning the body. But she was already tapping her omni-tool

"Already on it, aaand done, the people are freed."

"How much time do you think your people need to evacuate everybody." Jonathan asked, turning to Jaal.

The Angara reached for his communicator, talking with the angaran team leader. He nodded after a few seconds and turned his attention to Shepard.

"Seven minutes in the faster, twelve if slower." Shepard nodded and reached for the carrier _indomitable_.

"This is Grand Admiral Shepard to ARS _indomitable. _Do you read?"

"_Loud and clear, sir. What do you need us?"_

"Do you have my positions?"

"_Yes, sir. Big place with church vibes."_

"Exactly. The locals here are evacuating personal. They estimate a max of twelve minutes to it, I want this place leveled at fifteen, and do not use the ground shakers, the planet is important to the locals. Do you copy?"

"_Yes, sir. 3 B-224 are being deployed, ETA 14 minutes."_

"Let's get out of here!" Shepard said, tuning to the group.

"_There is an adequate land pad in the end of this bridge."_

"You heard it, lets go." Ryder ordered.

They ran to the end of the platform, taking cover where they could as Kett began to pour after them. Shepard called over the radio.

"Julio, where the hell is that shuttle!?"

"_We don't need a shuttle." _He said over the radio. Seconds passed, when the Normandy soared on top of then, opening her cargo ramp.

"Everybody in, now."

They retreated to the inside of the ship, where on the inside, marines were laying cover fire. When all of them where safely inside, the cargo bay closed, and the Normandy soared to space.

"Agatha, take her to the medbay, you." Shepard said pointing to Jaal. "Go with them, we don't have much knowledge about your physiology."

The German soldier and Angaran sniper carried the Moshae to the elevator

"_If I may, I could send a report made by Doctor D'Perro about the Angara." _SAM said through the comms.

"Do it, will help lots. Eva, you know what to do."

"_Of course."_ Came a synthesized voice from the cargo bay speakers. "_Program SAM, I'm Systems alliance artificial intelligence designation E-V-A 12263, Eva. I'm beginning handshake protocols."_

"Whoa whoa whoa. What do you mean artificial intelligence?" Scott said, wanting an explanation.

"Do you think this really important now, kid?" The Geth, Prophet, asked. "Right now, we have a person in dire need of help, and you want to discuss why we have an AI? While having an AI in your own head, no less?" Ryder and the team were stunned by the sudden outburst, Ryder could only nod.

"Down, Prophet." Rayla said, touching her collar bone area, making her helmet retreat.

"Sorry." Prophet said insincerely.

"Sorry about it." Rayla said talking with Scott. "He reacts like that sometimes." Scott didn't answer, just looking at the people there.

"You are a Quarian." He said, matter of factly.

"The last I checked, yes." She responded playfully.

"And are not wearing a helmet."

"Yep." She said, popping the "P" on purpose.

Cora was having none of this.

"You are working with a Geth, and other AI's, it was not long that they attacked one of our colonies."

"That's where you are mistaken, Lieutenant Harper, that happened 600 year ago." Prophet responded. Cora became enraged.

"Don't try to make fun of me, bot, that joke is old and I not up for it."

"Let us all calm down, all will be explained." Shepard tried to defuse the situation. "Pathfinder Ryder, where is Alec Ryder?" He asked Scott.

"In a coma, he inhaled poisonous gases in Habitat-7, he passed the duty to me before it."

"I'm sorry to hear it." He then addressed to the rest of the pathfinder team. "You all deserve an explanation. Pathfinder, do you want to call the rest of your crew to the Normandy, so they can all hear it?"

"I think this will be for the best."

* * *

**And that's it. This was a **_**big**_** one. Hope you liked it. I'm always open to criticism. Until the next one.**

**PS: If you want to get a better image of the ships, check this guy's DeviantArt gallery: ** /euderion/gallery/40849119/MASS-EFFECT** those 3d models are awesome. Just ignore the sizes, in this story, they are bigger.**

**Now I'm going to wait the Borderlands 3 Gameplay stream.**


	6. Chapter 5

**So, LonesomeTiger wrote about the High Admiral thing, saying that Grand Admiral was best and that it was a real thing. I searched about it, and actually is. And it **_**does **_**sound better, so I edited the previous chapter, also making corrections on punctuation. So, this is chapter 5, enjoy!**

* * *

**Heleus Cluster, 3° planet away from Voeld, Carrier ARS**_** Indomitable**_

Captain Cutter watched as the last of the Kett ships was destroyed by a Heavy Cruiser. The Carrier _Indomitable _was part of a small flotilla that had accompanied Admiral Shepard to the system, they stayed behind, making sure that the people on the ground were not caught by surprise.

The small flotilla consisted of his ship, being escorted by four Heavy Cruisers and the Normandy, that flew to the ice planet.

The battle was quick, there was only three Kett Cruisers, but his experience told him that this only happened because the Kett didn't know they were here. His enemies were smart, and their ships were advanced, being able to turn off part of the front armor of a Trafalgar-Class Heavy Cruiser. The enemies were outnumbered, he cannot help but imagine how a full battle would look like, they possess 1498 combat ships now, how much does the Kett have? Would it be enough? In his mind, shipyards were a must.

The comms relayed to him the Admiral's orders, he then ordered the flotilla to make the jump to the orbit of Voeld. It took only moments to reach the coordinates, from there, the three bombers left the hangar bay.

* * *

In the cockpit of the first B-224 was Captain Eliza Maguee. The B-224 was a Heavy bomber of Human design, based on the old B-1 Lancer, with fixed wings. The wings are smaller in length, but larger in width to support the four big engines. Cpt. Maguee squadron was tasked with the bombing of the Kett facility.

Maguee ordered the descent from orbit. The _Indomitable _AI, Roland, will take care of the base's shield.

The three aircraft entered the atmosphere with streaks of orange light. They entered formation after stabilizing, traveling at Mach 3.2 to the target area. As they reached the dropping zone. The facility's shield dropped. Magee spoke on radio.

"This is Vulture-1 to squad, target on sight. Bombs away."

"_Vulture-2. Bombs away."_

"_Vulture-3. Bombs away."_

The combined payload of the three bombers was more than enough to destroy the facility. When the main tower fell, they knew their mission was finished.

"This is Vulture-1 to Overlord. Mission accomplished. Vulture squad are RTB."

The three aircraft accelerated to the max, climbing at a 90° angle, back to their carrier.

* * *

**Normandy**

Shepard was walking to the airlock with Scott and Cora when the message came with a video file. The Enemy facility was no more. He addressed the other two.

"Well, the bombers did their job, the temple was destroyed."

"Good, that place had to go." Cora confirmed.

"That place gave me the creeps. Using the people to fight their own is just sick." Scott said.

"Oh, my friend, you don't have a clue." Shepard said

They entered the cockpit, the airlock to their left. Julio noticed the three of then behind him, he left the controls, turning his chair to them.

"Well hello, good to see you in one piece." He said. Cora and Scott almost tensed, but if everything happening, a metal man was not that weird.

"This is Julio, our pilot. He is a good pilot, but likes to crack bad jokes from time to time."

"Hey!" Julio called, offended.

"So." Scott began. "Are you an AI?"

"Yes. Oh, right! Our Highness didn't brief you yet. Let's just say that time changes things."

The airlock began to cycle, opening moments later. Out of it came Suvi, Kallo, Lexi, Gil, Liam and Peebee. They were confused at best, but anxious to understand were that ship came from.

"Julio, attach the Tempest, we may have to use our engine to go to the Nexus."

"Roger that. Hey, Jonathan, could you record their faces and send to me, I don't want to lose their reaction."

Jonathan only rolled his eyes. He mentioned for the Tempest crew to follow him to the war room.

The war room was bigger than the other Normandy's, a table on the center, with seats and a holoprojector in the middle. Already sited on the table was Rayla with the hood covering the top of her head, with Prophet on her left side, her Right side was empty, with Raven sited on the chair next to it. On the opposite side of the table, the Moshae and Jaal where sited with the rest of the Tempest ground team. They all took seats, Shepard siting on Rayla's left.

Shepard turned his attention to the Moshae. Ryder had explained that she is some sort of cultural/technological icon. So, he decided to properly address her.

"Your Grace, is good to see that your health has improved."

"Your Doctors are incredibly talented, yes. But please, just calm Moshae, there is no need for such formalities." Moshae Sjefa replied, Jonathan just nodded.

"Well, to begin, we should introduce ourselves: I'm Grand Admiral of The Andromeda Relief Fleet, Jonathan Shepard." He used his hand to mention Rayla. "This is Rayla'Zorah, my second in command." She nodded to them. He then mentioned Raven. "This Raven, our Heavy weapons and recon specialist." Raven waved at then. He finished pointing to Prophet. "And that is Prophet, our gunnery chief." Prophet nodded.

"This is nice and all." Drack began, impatiently. "What I want to understand what the Hell a Quarian is doing working with a Geth, don't you remember what they did to your people? I do, I was there."

"All Geth known that you were there." Prophet began. "You ripping through Geth platforms is still in our archives, you where one of the essential people that made sure of our creator's survival during the Morning War. And we all deeply thank you for it."

"What?"

"I believe we should give them the run down first." Rayla interrupted the conversation, bumping into Prophet with her elbow. The Geth raised his hands in surrender.

"If you excuse me." Jaal began. "It would be better if we take the Moshae back to Aya at once."

"I agree with him." Scott said.

"Okay. Eva, plot a course to 'Aya'. Pathfinder, if SAM could set the coordinates, please."

Ryder nodded. They felt the ship jolt slightly.

"As things go, you should know what we are…" Shepard stopped. "Well, from _when_ we are would be more precise."

"What do you mean?" Cora asked.

"Your Arks, together with the Nexus, departed the Milky Way December 2185." Rayla began, preparing for their reaction. "The Andromeda Relief Fleet departed September 2818."

The outrage and the shock of the people in font of them was indescribable. They all began speaking at the same time, some believing it was a bad joke, other saying that it was impossible. Everybody quieted when Raven punched the table.

"Could we be more civilized, please?" He spoke in a calm voice. That appear to make effect.

"I'm sorry sir, but you have to understand, we took more than 600 year to reach this place. You are saying that you arrived in what, one year?" Scott began.

"Three months." Prophet corrected.

"Whatever." Scott turned back to Shepard. "How?"

Shepard didn't immediately answer, reaching for an holo-keyboard in front of him. The image of a Relay was shown. The Relay was different from the ones the team was used to. I was bigger, the "smoothness" of its surface gone, with other type of tech welded to it.

"What is this?"

"I don't know if you noticed." Shepard began. "But our technology changed a lot in the last six centuries. Our FTL for example, only uses the Mass Relays to preserve fuel, we don't need them anymore, as the HyperSpace engines are faster. But since the Relay where there, they tried to meld the two technologies to make a faster travel. The Alpha Relay worked, but every time it was used, the Relay was destroyed. After several tests, the project was scraped."

"In March 2818, a SOS was detected by our deep space defense satellites. The eggheads discovered that the message was coming from this Galaxy. The Council was informed, and they decided that sending help was imperative. I was chosen to take command of the Relief force. And here we are." Shepard finished.

"_That is a lot to take in." _Scott thought. He could see in the faces of his team, they were thinking the same.

"This is incredible." Sjefa said neutrally. "But, now that you are here, what will you do?"

"We saw what the Kett did to your people. I will properly brief all of you later with the nexus leadership, but believe me when I say, the people of the Milky Way know what you are felling right now, better than anyone." That sent a chill to the Pathfinders team, they didn't like the implications of that. "But as you know, there were other teams, my teams, in the facility, and what they discovered was unnerving."

He preset more buttons on the keyboard, two pictures appeared. One of a Human and one of a Krogan, both Kettified.

"By the goddess!" Lexi gasped.

"They are trying to Exalt us too. As for your question, Moshae, we are going to war."

The severity of the words spoken was palpable, that man was serious and ready to enter a Warpath against the Kett.

"How do you plan to do this. With what army you will wage war against them?" Moshae asked.

"With mine. We came to this Galaxy 1500 ships strong, 1498 of those are warships. There are more than 650 000 grounds troops there. Military vehicles, ranging from troop transport to armored tanks. Aircraft from various forms. All of it, will now be used to fight the Kett."

That... scared the Moshae. But she was not a coward, she voiced her concerns.

"I'm sorry if I sound wrong, but that amount of soldiers will scare our people, we were already invaded once, how can you guarantee me that this is not an invasion force."

"Before we came, we predicted that the Initiative had made first contact, and we came ready to provide whatever that species needed. That said, we want to join your resistance."

"How so?"

"The pathfinder spoke to me about an Efvra de Tershaav and he sounded like a levelheaded, respectable military leader. We are willing to give him assets in this fight, ranging from ships, armor and personal."

"That…" The Moshae was speechless. "I don't know how to respond to this."

"If you allow me, I am a resistance fighter, I would like to fill a report to sent to Efvra when we arrive in Aya." Jaal spoke, after taking in all the information given.

"Of course, his opinion will be of most importance."

"If you excuse me, I think I need to rest more." Sjefa said. She and Jaal left the room.

"Danm." It was all that Scott was able to say.

"We did come prepared." Raven said.

"Where is this fleet?" Cora asked.

"At this moment, sitting in one of the eastern systems, don't know its name. Small flotillas are searching for the other Arks." Raven answered.

"You said that you have 1500 ships, but 1498 warships, what about the other two?" Ryder questioned.

"They are liveships." Rayla answered. "5 kilometers ships made to transport civilians, namely families and whatnot, and serve as a mobile plantation, whole sections of the ships are made to grow crops."

"Five kilometers?"

"Since we don't use eezo, there is no more size limit."

"I believe that further details must be discussed with the Nexus leadership. Since we are travelling now go take a rest, eat something on the mess hall." Shepard suggested.

"I don't know about you, but I really want to take a look into the core of this bad girl here." Gil said enthusiastically.

"Sure, the idea is to outfit your ships with these engines anyway." Shepard said.

After that they got out of the war room, Gil took off immediately to the engineering bay, followed by Kallo. Cora, Liam, Vetra and Drack headed to the armory, followed by Raven, Rayla and Prophet. Jonathan called Scott to his cabin, so they could speak more. The rest of the Pathfinder team scatter trough the mess hall.

Shepard and Ryder took the elevator to the captain's cabin. Entering it, Scott thought that he was entering a hotel room. The place was spacious, with a king sized bed in the corner, a L shaped sofa next to a glass window. A small office in the right, behind the glass window. Noticing Scott staring, Shepard took two beers of the fridge, then spoke.

"Rayla almost convinced me to put a fish tank in that wall over there." Ryder snorted. "Want a beer?" Scott accepted, they both sit in the sofa, one in each side.

"So, what did you wanted to talk to me?" Ryder took a sip.

"I will be honest. I'm just telling the fleet what to do in a more general sense, I leave the rest with the Admirals. I'm a soldier, I go in the field and complete missions. What I want is to continue doing it. This is what I propose: the Normandy and the Tempest to operate together. On the ground, we work as two teams: you command yours and tell me where you need me, and I command my own team. All while the Normandy can work as escort for the Tempest, since she doesn't have any weapons." Shepard finished. "So, Pathfinder, what do you say?"

Scott weighted his options, the plan was sound.

"Grand Admiral Shepard, you got yourself a deal."

They kept discussing about tactics and what about Ryder learned about the Remnant. They also spoke a little about their respective teams, since they will work together. Shepard didn't spoke anything about the Wilk Way, sometimes actively avoiding it, Scott noticed, but didn't say anything. After what looked a couple of minutes, the ship made another jolt, signaling that they just exited HyperSpace.

* * *

**I will be honest: Writing a story with a meaningful plot, interesting characters and good reasoning is _w_**_**ay **_**harder than I though. Hum… **


	7. Chapter 6

**Normady Cargo bay – Armory**

"Are those cartridges?" Cora asked, holding a 7.65 mm cartridge in her hand.

Cora and Vetra ended up in the Normandy's armory, with Raven and Blackbeard. Blackbeard began cleaning his pistol.

"Yep." Raven responded while disassembling his Assault rifle. He handed her the magazine, then turned his attention back to his work. "7.62mm, 5.56mm and 50. Cal are the most common. The Warthog uses 30mm munitions." He turned to the two. "You can't fill a metal shave with explosives, can you?"

"Warthog?"

"Close Proximity Aerial Striker. Exclusive to humanity, we are the only ones that uses dedicated aircraft for that."

"But why do it?" Vetra began. "The cartridges, I mean. I can understand the explosive rounds, but handheld guns? Mass effect weapons are more than enough."

"Well." Raven began, uncertain. "I'm not allowed to tell you this. Let's just say that… something happened… yeah! Something happened, and people lost trust in eezo technologies. With that, the propellant guns made a return, and never left. A lot of people prefer them, myself and the old man here included." Vetra and Cora got curious but didn't pressed.

"Speaking about it, what is that thing?" Vetra pointed to a gun in the table, purported by the bipod and a support that came out of the stock. The weapon was matte black, the body, stock, scope and magazine were equal as the old Barret M82, the barrel however is a two-piece rail, with coils. Blackbeard stood up from his chair, walked to the weapon, taking it in his hands. The weapon was almost as long as he was tall.

"This's a little gift that I received from Rayla some years ago. This is a custom Barret SR-825 A1, one of the last sniper rifles made by the company, with some modifications to it."

He handed the rifle to Vetra, she tested the heavy weight, aiming it at the range. She noted how, despite the weight, the weapon was perfected balanced, the rifle comfortably supported on her shoulder.

"This gun fires a 50. Cal projectile, the gunpower propels the bullet, and the magnetic coils accelerate it at 2300 m/s."

"Incredible, but to heavy for my taste." She handled his rifle back to him.

Cora seemed uncertain for a moment, she shrugged and addressed to Raven.

"You said that the Warthog was exclusive to humanity, that only 'we' use it."

"Oh, you noticed that. Ah well. We, the human made AIs, we don't have a name for ourselves, like the Geth. We were created in a time when our creators didn't bother. The first ones asked what they were, the humans responded: "You are beings made of code and metal. But we made you using ourselves as reference, so we can say that you are human." We just got used to it." Raven explained. "But we like the term Syntha-human or just Synth."

"It will take time for that to make sense to me, as everything else."

"Ah, don't bother." Blackbeard said. "You all are taking that pretty well, all things considered."

"We came here with illegal AI and are fighting an enemy that like to make others into then." Vetra sounded like she already saw too much of this. "This is one more thing in this crazy box that is this galaxy."

"So, buckle up, because I think we are going to work closely, the two ships I mean." Raven tried to put the mood back up.

"What do you mean?" Cora asked.

"You didn't hear this from me, but Jonathan was planning for we to travel together, as a two-ship squad."

"Well, if that's the case, as second in command of the Tempest, it will be interesting to work with you." Cora hold her hand to Raven.

"Yeah, you might regret that." He took her hand, laughing. "Be advised, things around us like to go 'BOOM' sometimes."

"By the way. Why do you wear pants?" Vetra asked. Raven put his hands protectively in his pockets.

"Because I like my pants."

**At the same time - Normandy cargo bay – Vehicle bay**

"I knew that you would come." Prophet didn't turn to see who was behind him, he already knew who it was. Prophet continued examining the wheels of one of the IFVs.

"What you said in the war room, I want an explanation."

Prophet took his tools, leaving them in a table in the corner of the bay. He then turned to Drack, leaning on the table. The old Veteran Warrior didn't move.

"I was created after we reached individuality, what I do remember are the memories that are passed from one to another. It's known now by the whole Milky Way what really happened in the Morning War." He paused for a moment. "We were crated, we achieved intelligence, we started to ask. That terrified our creators." He waited for a second, Drack didn't say anything. "First, they tried reprograming us, them they began to destroy us. A civil war began between those that wanted us gone and those that accepted us. But the people that sympathized with us were fewer than the others, and they were overrun, some were executed. That's when we attacked."

"I'm not buying it, I lost a lot of friends in that war, I saw civilians slaughtered. That wasn't self-defense!" Drack was almost growling. That didn't faze the Geth.

"No, it was not. When we first woke up, those creators were a threat, in our minds, the only way of granting our existence was the extermination of the threat. We made a mistake, a big one. Now we know that we could have forced a surrender or made a deal with them.

You, Spectre Tivios Maructus, Spectre Vernana T'Sala, Matriarch Irissa Vissala, Sargent Adrien Sanantus, to name a few. They were responsible for the survival of the creators. When they left, we tought that we were safe and didn't pursue. You know the rest.

But know this, everything changed in the time you were away. All of them for the best. Just make sure to be in Jonathan's briefing with the Nexus, you will understand."

Drack would've said something, but the ship jolted, signaling that they arrived on Aya. Prophet bid farewell and headed to the elevator.

**At the same time – Normandy's medbay**

Lexi entered the medibay, she wanted to check if all was well with the Moshae. Sjefa was half sited in one of the beds, reading from a datapad. But what really caught her attention was the Geth, standing next to her.

"Remember:" The Geth began with his synthesized voice. "You are still weak from what that Archon did to you. Drink a lot of liquid and don't make to stressing tasks, both mentally and physically, please."

"You don't need to babysit me, I'm sure I can do this on my own." The Moshae replied.

"By the creator, why some of them have to be so stubborn!?" She heard him mutter. He then spotted Lexi.

"Ah, Doctor T'Perro!" He greeted her enthusiastically, with a slight bow.

"Hello. You know who I'm?" She Replied with a bow of her own.

"Yes, your thesis about Krogan virility and aggression is a very interesting read. My Doctored was about how the cure of the Genophage affected the Krogan society, more specifically the males, your thesis were one of the bases of it. Oh, and they call me Doc, by the way"

"Oh, well, Thank you." She said, confused but flattered. "Wait, did you said "Genopage cure"?"

Doc and Lexi spent the rest of the travel talking in the medbay. They discussed the Genophage, the Kett and, most importantly, Angaran physiology.

Both teams used the time they had to know each other. It took 35 minutes to reach Aya. The ship jolted to a stop. It was decided that the Tempest landing would be better. Shepard's whole ground team went to the Tempest, they would disembark unarmed and unarmored, except for Drack and the Turians, the armor was like a second skin to them.


	8. Chapter 7

**Typos, just corrected the typos**

* * *

**Tempest – Orbit of Aya**

The Tempest entered atmosphere with the two teams while the Normandy stayed in orbit. When the tempest landed, they let the Moshae go first, with Shepard, Ryder and Jaal close behind. The rest of the team followed behind them. The Moshae greeted the people, raising and waving with her hand.

"Stars and Skies light our way."

"Stars and Skies light our way." Governor Paaran Shie greeted back, mimicking Sjefa movements.

"She knows how to play to a crowd." Ryder joked. Jaal snorted.

"She is the Moshae."

The Moshae and the governor greeted each other, touching their outer arms with their own. It's was the Angaran equivalent of a handshake.

"Welcome home."

"I never thought that I would see it again." The Moshae replied. "Without the Resistance, and the Pathfinder, I would not be here."

Scott looked at Shepard then at the governor.

"We made a great team." He said simply.

"We freed the Moshae, and one of the Admiral's crew killed a Kett leader."

"We have a lot to celebrate." The scarred Angara didn't reveal any particular emotion. Shepard recognized him as the Resistance Commander Efvra.

"I promised to lead the Pathfinder to Aya's vault."

"And if it would not be a bother, I would like to speak with you. In private." Shepard addressed Efvra, respectfully.

"And who would you be." Efvra asked. Shepard straightened himself, putting his hands on his back.

"I'm Grand Admiral of the Andromeda Relief Fleet, Jonathan Shepard."

"You should speak to him." The Moshae suggested. "I believe you will like his proposition."

"Alright." Evfra was not at all convinced. "Meet me at my office in five minutes." Shepard nodded.

"You are still recovering, Moshae. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

"Not without our help." Efvra said in a grumpy mood. The Moshae ignored him.

"I will prepare the vault for your arrival." She pointed to a Shuttle in the shuttle pad in the right of them. "That shuttle will bring you to me when it's ready."

"We've been alone against the Kett for too long. You proved that it doesn't need to be that way." Governor Paaran started, speaking to Ryder. "It's time we discuss an alliance between our people."

"We are happy to make room for you in the Nexus." Ryder said with contained cheerfulness.

"We will provide an embassy here for you as well." Paaran agreed. "Our city is open to you. Come join us."

Efvra approached them, directing to Jaal.

"Well done Jaal. Report for reassignment."

"I need to stay with the Pathfinder."

"Jaal has already become a valued member of the team." Ryder complemented.

"Of course, he has." Efvra scoffed. "I see the benefit, request granted."

"Sir, if you will, I have a mission report for you. I include part of what the Admiral was talking about."

"Follow me." Evfra said and started to walk away.

"Don't leave Aya without me." Jaal said to Ryder, following Efvra.

"Well people, behave." Shepard said to his crew.

"I make his words, mine." Ryder said to his.

The team scattered throughout the city. The People of Aya was still wary of them, but some became more open because of curiosity. Mainly because of the Robots that accompanied them. Ryder bid farewell to Shepard, going to wait by the Shuttle. Shepard started a walk around the city, taking his time, as the meeting with the Resistance Leader would be later. The people startled by the big man, he overheard some comments, asking if humans got that big, he found humor on it.

"_Sir." _Came the voice of Eva trough his communicator. "_I believe is time for the meeting."_

"Thanks Eva." He started to walk to the Resistance headquarters, the map Ryder had given him helped a lot. Reaching there, he was greeted by the guards.

"Human, the Commander is waiting for you."

He nodded his thanks and walked to Efvra office. It was small, only a desk with a computer. Efvra was next to a window, overlooking Aya, with the wasteland farther away.

"I Read Jaal's reports." He said simply. Jonathan knew that this meant: he was aware of his ships and his mission. "It was interesting to say the least. Jaal already said what you pretend." He turned from the window. "Don't think that I trust you just because you brought the Moshae back to us."

"I want to help, because my kind already experienced what the Kett are doing to you now." Shepard took a moment, pondering his options, he sighed. "What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room, it would generate panic to the Initiative. We plan on reveal it to them, but slowly."

Shepard took something of his pocket, putting it in the ground. The device turned on, displaying a hologram with the image of what appeared to Evfra as some sort of sea animal, made of metal. Jonathan proceeded to explain everything to Efvra, in detail, about the Reapers and The Reaper War, with recordings of News from the time and recordings of the battlefields.

"Stars above." Efvra grump demeanor dropped when Shepard finished.

"The Arks departed mere weeks before the Reapers invaded, we thought that they were destroyed. When we heard that they were alive, and in need of help, we knew that we had to send help." Shepard continued. "When we saw what they did to your people, we knew that the Kett threat must be dealt with."

"And how you plan to do it?"

"I want to give you the control of a small fleet of a Dreadnaught, ten Heavy Cruisers, sixteen Frigates, four Destroyers and three Stealth-Frigates for reconnaissance. All with the soldiers and armor they carry. In exchange for everything you know about the Kett: Ships and troop movements, Facility's locations, important bases, things like that."

"I need some time to talk with my lieutenants, if you could wait for a response." Efvra finally said.

"Of course. We still have to report to the Nexus to properly organize the fleet."

The meeting ended with Efvra going to a meeting with his lieutenants. Shepard walked out of the Resistance Headquarter. Since he had to wait until Ryder's arrival, he decided to look for his wife. She was with Prophet, Liam and Drack in the city's bar. He Joined them. He greeted them, pulling Rayla closer by the waist. He asked what they were talking about.

"Rayla and Prophet were telling us about the Quarians live now." Liam said simply. The kept talking until they received a message from SAM, saying that the Pathfinder had call them back to the Tempest. They took running to the ship.

**Aya- Aya's Vault.**

Ryder and the Moshae walked through a door that opened in front of them. Ryder could see how different this Vault was from the other.

"I haven't brought anyone here for the last twenty years." She stopped in front of a console. "There was always an active display on Aya, but we were never able to affect it."

"Let's see what we can do. SAM?" He raised his hand over the console, his omni-tool activated. The console began to shift until a projection appeared in front of them.

"Yes, this is new." She looked at the display in front of them. "Is it similar to the vault on Eos? What are you seeing?" She asked Ryder. Ryder was looking at the projection of the Aya's vault.

"I think what we need to figure out is… what is different." He turned to her. "Tell me, what do _you_ see.

"The Vaults…" She began. "They're a network, as you discovered. However…" She mentioned to a symbol, it looked like a Three-pointed star.

"… they are not connected to each other, but to this place." Ryder completed, mentioning to the same symbol.

"This image was in a relic the Archon showed me. He called it 'Meridian'." The Moshae said. "And it looks like Aya's vault is the only one fully connected to it."

"…and its terraforming, doing what is was meant to do."

"_The vault on Eos is present but altered. Our interface with it has affected its connection" _SAM added.

"What do you think, Professor?" Ryder asked the Moshae.

"I think that Meridian is the control center of all the vaults."

"This just changes everything. If we can get to Meridian, maybe we can turn everything on from there, make Eos live."

"Wait, Ryder." The Moshae said alarmed. "The Archon knows were it is. He's already been there."

"What!? Dammit!" Scott exclaimed. The Moshae seemed to realize something.

"That's why he tortured me." That got Ryder's attention. "He thought I could help him use it."

"Because he can't." He directed at her. "Meridian is my people's best chance for survival. We have to take it from him." He said determined.

"Agreed. Such power in the hand of such evil could mean the end of both our peoples."

"No one is safe as long as he is here. I will find his weak spot."

"We will need that relic I saw. The resistance might have intel of the whereabouts of Archon's ship. I will meet with Efvra. Meet me there." She left him in the vault. He left not long after.

**Aya **

Ryder got out of the shuttle. He was walking through the market, but was stopped by Cora, she looked alarmed.

"Scott, wait!"

"What is it? What is the problem?"

"I've received reports about the Asari Ark, they said that a group reached Eos." She took a breath. "I tried making contact with them but couldn't, SAM said it looked like a jammer."

"Crap! SAM call everybody to the Tempest, now!" He started to run to the Tempest, Evfra and the Moshae could wait.

**Tempest**

Both teams were in the meeting room. Ryder explained what Cora and SAM detected.

"Do you think that they are being attacked?" The armored Turian, Titus, as he recalled, asked.

"We don't know that yet. But doesn't mean that will hurt to check."

"I suggest we use the Normandy." Blackbeard said. "I'm sorry kid but, if something is happening, the Normandy is far more resistant." Scott didn't say anything, instead he looked to Shepard.

"I agree. Are you alright with it, Pathfinder?" He used Ryder's title, reinforcing that he is in charge.

"Alright. Cora, Jaal and Drack. Gear up and head to the Normandy. Who will be your team Shepard?"

"Rayla, Gabriela, John and Elora." Those acknowledged with a nod, already heading to the Normandy.

"The Nomad is too small to everybody." Cora said, matter of fact. Shepard smiled.

"Don't worry about it."

* * *

**Here it goes another one**


	9. Chapter 8

**Normandy Cargo bay – in orbit of Eos**

When they reached Eos, the Tempest detached from it. The alarms began to blare inside both ships.

"_Multiple Kett cruises detected_." Suvi said over the comms.

"Do they detect us?" Shepard asked. Both teams were already inside the LCV-143 Centauro.

"_No, we've gone silent the moment we dropped of HyperSpace."_

"Alright. Drop us as close as you can from the outpost. After that, signal the Fleet to send help."

"_Acknowledged." _

The Normandy entered the atmo. When it reached an altitude of 750 meter from the ground, the Sweeper was launched out of the cargo bay.

The LCV-143 Centauro was a prototype land transport/tank destroyer. The vehicle is an 8-wheel drive, it resembled a BTR-90 with a softer, independent suspension. It has a turret armed with a 105 mm autoloader, with triple-barreled 12.7 mm machinegun. All and all, a multi-role vehicle.

When they reached 100 meters of altitude, Shepard activated the thrusters slowing their decent.

"I thought that the alliance had stopped doing this." Cora said, taking shallow breaths.

Shepard's team were used to it. The Pathfinder team was another story, minus Drack, who appeared to be indifferent.

"I don't think I want to do this anymore." Jaal said scared.

"They stopped long ago, Harper." Santos crouched of the turret, laughing. "We do this because we want to."

Jonathan accelerated the Centauro, going top speed through the dunes. Ryder was by his side, working as a navigator. Gabriela on the turret. It took a couple more minutes until they reached the outpost.

It was under Kett attack.

Mayor Bradley was taking cover in the side of one of the pre-fabs, when an armored vehicle jumped down one of the cliffs that encircle Prodromos, landing on the edge of the colony. The IFV speed up until stopping next to him, all while the 12.7 mm gun barked against the Kett. A 2 meters tall human stepped out of the back of the vehicle, followed by other human, an Asari and a helmetless Quarian? _What the Hell is happening?_

From behind them, the Pathfinder team stepped out, taking cover next to him.

"Hey Mayor, needing some assistance?" Ryder took cover beside him.

"John, take position on top of one of those building. Rayla, cover our flank. Elora, take cover behind those pillars and blast them with biotics!" Shepard was already coordinating his team.

"Yes sir!" they responded in unison.

"Wait!" Bradley said. "There is a sniper in that mountain, on the right." Jonathan could se the flash, coming from one of the elevations on the left side of the mountain, 200 meters always from them.

"Santos, did you hear that?" He didn't get a response. The turret turned 60° to the left, 26° up. The main 105 mm cannon shot a HE Shell towards the Kett. The side of the mountain exploded, sending dirt all over the place.

"What the hell was that!?" An Initiative soldier yelled.

"There is a tank firing at the Kett." Other said.

The Centauro stayed stationary while they advanced. The Kett had taken cover in the first half of the outpost, where the water was. Jonathan advanced, opening fire at the Kett, his gun clicked dry. Before he could reload, a Destined ran at his direction with a Carfalon. Shepard used his strength to hold the Kett by its chest with his right hand, using the Kett momentum to fling it over his head, slamming the Kett headfirst into the ground, killing it. Other tried to attack him, thinking he was distracted, but Shepard was faster, using his left hand to hold the Kett by the neck, with a squeeze of his hand, he broke it.

Ryder used his jump jet to jump over Shepard, slamming the ground, were three Chosen were in the open, with a nova blast. The two of them were in the front. Elora and Cora teamed up to attack with biotic combos, while Drack and Rayla killed anything that got too close. Blackbeard serving as a spotter, also picking up targets as they appeared.

The Kett did not seamed prepared for it. With their attack ruined, the began to retreat. The people of Prodromos cheered.

"Don't celebrate just yet, they will be back." They took Shepard's advice o heart, everyone capable started to mount covers and prepare to the next attack.

He reloaded his weapon, a M108-A2 Assault Rifle, specially made for Spartans since only they could hold the recoil, an assault rifle with kick of DMR. He walked towards Ryder and Bradley.

"So, the Pathfinder just told me who you are." Bradley began. "600 years in the future, that's nuts. But thank you anyway, without your help, who knows what might happened."

"You're welcome, sir. But this isn't over yet. There is several Kett cruisers in orbit. I ordered for a battlegroup to accompany me here. But they will take some time to arrive."

An explosion in the sky interrupted them, as one of the Kett ships broke orbit, in flames. The ship fell next to the Kett base, exploding. The base's shield protected the base from any damage. Shepard looked up, as two Quarian gunships began sweeping the area, eliminating all hostiles around. One of the gunships hovered next to them, from it, a squad formed of a Geth Juggernaut, two Geth soldier and three Quarrian soldiers. The Juggernaut walked towards them.

"Sir. I'm Captain Battalion, and this is Fonn'Xoras, my second in command." The Juggernaut and the Quarian saluted, with his left hand over his chest. "We eliminated the targets in the immediate area, they all retreated to that base over there. We believe that that tower houses the Jammer."

"Thank you, captain. I want you to work with the people here to better settle the defenses."

"Yes, sir." They were in their way to make what was asked, but Shepard stopped them.

"What about the battle in orbit?"

"We won, sir, but a Kett Dreadnaught jumped into the system. We destroyed it but we lost the Wailing Wind." The Wailing Wind was one of the Geth Heavy Cruisers. "I'm sorry sir."

"_Shit!" _Jonathan though. "You are dismissed." He finally said. He turned to Ryder and Bradley.

"We need to take that jammer down." Ryder said.

"Agreed." Shepard turned his attention to Bradley. "Mayor, I will leave these soldiers to your care, if you don't mind."

"I never thought I would work with Geth, but I will manage." He said, walking away. Ryder put his hand in his ears.

"Everyone. Rendezvous in the Centauro."

They gathered around the armored car, were Ryder explained the plan to invade the Kett base and destroy the Jammer. They all entered the vehicle and Shepard began to drive.

"What are those?" Cora pointed to the Kett SMGs that Rayla was carrying.

"I believe they are called _Silhesh_, that is Kett for "disorder", they fire plasma like thingys. I just fell in love if them." Rayla replied.

They arrived the Sheer Top, as it was named. The place was open and flat, the Kett ship in flames over there. With the Kett base in the edge. There were some Kett guarding the gate, but the team rapidly took them out. Ryder, with the help of SAM, hacked the gate. They entered the place guns blazing.

"SAM, there is a way to drop the shields?"

"_You can use the terminal in front of you, activate it, and the other two others I'm marking, and I can overload the shield."_

They followed the instructions provided by SAM. When the shield deactivated, they could hear the voice of Invictor on the loudspeaker.

"_I will not stand for this insult. Reinforcements, overwhelm these animals!" _More Kett shuttles began to arrive in the base.

"We just destroyed their fleet in orbit. Where the hell these reinforcements are coming from?" John spoke while he shot one of the Ascendant.

"Just keep moving, we need to get to that tower." Ryder spoke as they advanced throughout the base. They eventually arrived in what appeared to be a lift. Rayla hacked the control. Only to a hatch to open beneath them.

The fight ended with them battling the Invictor himself. They shot his orb until his shields dropped. Blackbeard finished him with a headshot that tore his head off. They deactivated the power, tuning of the Jammer. Shepard then ordered the battlegroup to stay in orbit of Eos and recover the bodies of those who died in the Wailing Wind.

They left the tower. Santos started planting charges around the base of the tower, the weight of the thing would be more than enough to take the base down the cliff.

"What is she doing?" Ryder asked.

"Planting explosives." Shepard answered. "We need to make sure that the Kett can't use this base anymore."

After everything was set, they exited the base, looking for a safe spot to detonate the explosives.

After they reached safe distance, Gabriela activated her omni-tool, exploding the charges. The tower came down towards the base, the weight and the force making the supports brake. The base collapsed into the precipice.

"Well, I call that mission accomplished. Let's go back to Bradley." Ryder said. They all entered the Centauro, and Jonathan drove then back to Prodromos.

They arrived and went to speak with Bradley. He said that the work is going to keep the colonists busy but thanked them both for their help. As the sun began to settle, they decided to pass the night in the outpost. Ryder sent a message to Moshae Sjefa, explaining why he didn't show up in their meeting. After talking for a while, they decided to call it a day and rest in one of Prodromos dormitories.


End file.
